The Watcher
by Foreign Nebula
Summary: The Watcher comes out at night, spiriting away people who trespass on his property. At least, that is what Kaoru has been taught to believe. But caught out one night, she must fend off against her family enemy Gohei, and hide from the Watcher.


**_A/N:_** My little contribution to Halloween. Sadly, this is the only contribution to Halloween (the best holiday since Christmas and Easter) because in Australia, there is no Halloween. Sniff. So sad. But my friend was born a few days after Halloween so I'm going to her Halloween themed party. I'm going as a pirate. _Aaaarggg me hearties! REVIEW!!!_ Please?

**_DISCLAIMER:_** No, don't own Rurouni Kenshin. Own the plot, although it was inspired by a comination of folk-law and urban legends my grandmother used to tell me.

**_!!!WARNING! WARNING!!!_** There is lots and lots of **violence** in this little ficlet. There is also mentions and hintings of **rape**. If you don't like to read those sorts of things, **do not read it**

Other than that, enjoy!

**X**

**X**

**X**

_**The Watcher**_

**X**

**X**

**X**

She ran, heedless of the direction in which she went; all she knew was that she had to get to the apothecary and back home before the sun had set.

At least, that had been the plan.

She had forgotten to factor in that she had no idea what her brother was sick with, and had ended up staying for nearly two hours after the sun had set to get the right medicine for him.

Now the vial of medicine was nestled in the pouch at her side, hidden in the folds of her skirt. She had then been caught unawares by her loathed enemy and his drunken brutes – resulting in the chase that now commenced through the back alleys and dark streets of the town that she had grown up in.

Hiruma Gohei was a surprisingly agile man, despite his gargantuan stature. He laughed at the thrill of the chase, bloodlust rolling off of him in waves. Gohei's two men had known her for years, been her neighbours since childhood. Yet here they were, salivating at the thought of causing her harm.

It made no sense to her.

Still, she ran, always slightly faster than Gohei. But she could not seek shelter in the confines of a home with these men hunting her down like prey. Nor could she even hope to outrun him and his goons; her stamina leaching from her already-tired body after running errands all day.

She had been lucky, though, to get away when she had. They had cornered her like a cat soon after she had left the apothecary, and only her quick reflexes had allowed her to the side of the blow meant to sever her arm from her body. As blessed as she had been, she hadn't been as fast as she would have liked, the long bloody gash on her left arm a testament to the damage Gohei's sword had inflicted. He was the one who had destroyed her life, and continued to do so by spreading lies and rumours that many in the town ignored. Still, it hurt not only her, but also her younger brother.

No doubt he was trying to kill her and get the dojo every means he knew how: blood, violence and murder.

But then again, if Gohei didn't kill her, then the Watcher would surely spirit her away to hell – or kill her anyway. Whichever came first.

A dagger suddenly flew passed her ear head and she was brought out of her musings at the stinging cut left on her cheek.

Cursing under her breath, she ducked beneath another dagger-this one aimed for her neck- and rolled across the cobblestone road. Springing into the shadowy mouth of the closest alley, she ran-

Only to come to a staggering halt at the side of a wall that was too high for her to climb over.

A dead end.

There was no place to hide, no crates that she could use as leverage to vault over the offending piece of construction. The only things in the alley that she could make out in the gloom of the cloud-covered full moon, was trash and the glowing eyes of vermin.

Her skin crawled.

She examined her possibilities of escape and turned to run back out of the alley, when Gohei and his two men sauntered into the entry, cutting off all hopes of freedom and filling her with dread at the leers on their faces.

"Well , well, well," Gohei murmured, yellow teeth grinning at her menacingly, "Now what would a little girl like ye be doin' out durin' the Watchers time?"

Kamiya Kaoru couldn't help but growl slightly in the back of her throat as he swung his massive, curved sword in front of him as if it were nothing more than a stick. She watched as he slung it over his shoulder – nearly decapitating one of his men in the process – like it didn't weigh more than 150 pounds.

"What indeed?" she sneered, backing slowly against the wall. "I don't need to explain myself to my father's murderer!" she exclaimed, eyes searching the ground of the alley once again, only this time for any kind of weapon she could use against him.

Cold metal touched the delicate underside of her chin, causing Kaoru to look up and glare angrily at the worthless man before her.

"That hurt, Kamiya. I might have killed yer father, but it was the outcome of battle." He smirked down at her, his two brutes laughing unpleasantly behind him.

"You killed my father dishonourably! You begged for mercy and he gave it to you! Then you repay him by cutting him in half when his back is turned!" she screamed, pent-up anger and sadness causing her eyes to tear up and her vision to go blurry.

"I wanted yer dojo, little girl. Yer father wouldn't give it to me." He snarled, pressing the tip of the sword further into her flesh and sneering when Kaoru pushed her head further up and away from the sharp blade. He noticed the fire dancing in her teary eyes and snapped, "Are ye trying to bring down the Watcher on our heads?!"

The alley was suddenly flooded with blue, iridescent light from the full moon as the clouds moved by, and the glint of silver caught Kaoru's watery orbs. Blinking her tears away, she slid her eyes to the side of the alley, and repressed the gasp in her throat at the sight of a sword nestled amongst the litter on the dirt ground. It looked to be in perfect condition, the hilt almost like it was just the right size for her small hands. How did…? She mentally shook her head, grateful for any kind of weapon she could use against Gohei and his men in front of her.

Her blue eyes widened then, noticing a fourth man leaning against the wall of the alley, just behind the two original lackeys. His hair was dark crimson and tied high on his head, his eyes hidden behind his bangs. He also wore a dark travelling cape, hiding his body from view. She _knew_ that he hadn't been there before.

"My little firecracker, have ye finally cracked?" Gohei's face suddenly engulfed her vision and Kaoru longed to move as far away from him as she possibly could. Her hands tightened into fists at her sides when the cold wall of the alley failed to give way as she had hoped it would.

Gohei's two original cronies started to laugh and Gohei himself followed, his head moving away from her face in time to see the new man shake his head. He looked up at her, as if sensing her eyes on him, and inclined his head towards her lightly, violet eyes glowing strangely.

"I wouldn't have had to poison that brat brother of yers, ye know?" Gohei said suddenly, his entire frame moving to block the man and the two goons from her view once again. The sword never left her chin. "All ye'd have had to do was marry me and it would've been done with. But no!"

Kaoru never had time to even blink.

The sword that had been under chin, disappeared. His face showed fury the likes she had never seen come from Gohei, and a moment later his large palm had slapped her across the face, the force of his strike sending her body to the dirty alley ground. Dazed, she lay there as blood pooled lazily in her mouth from where her teeth had cut the inside of her cheek. Her hair was yanked back so hard she was seeing stars, and her body was lifted slightly off the ground.

"And because of ye, I'm the laughin' stock of the town!" he raged, his spittle raining down onto her face.

She grinned, despite herself, spitting the blood from her mouth into his face. "I thought you didn't want the Watcher breathing down your face."

Her head was snapped to the side from his second strike, this one cutting her bottom lip. He threw her to the ground and took a step back, all the while glaring at her. He knew that she was collecting her wits, he knew that he should kill her then, but he didn't; instead kneeling down by her side and laying a meaty had on her hip.

She stilled beneath his touch.

Kaoru's eyes snapped open when she felt Gohei's hand start to roam her body and she sat up, fighting off the concussion his second strike had left her with. "Don't touch me, you bastard." She breathed, eyes flaring at the suggestive remarks the men behind Gohei were giving him.

He smirked, lifting his hand to her cheek this time, only to have it swatted away.

"You poisoned my brother." She stated her voice cold and eyes flashing in anger. The alley became gloomy as clouds passed over-head. This time, the disappearance of the moon's glow seemed to take with it sound, because the two men that had been talking nearly non-stop became silent, plunging the alley into whispers and the sounds of their own breathing.

"Wasn't me. It was Kihei." Gohei chortled, reaching for her chin only for her to duck away. He snarled.

Kaoru glared murderously at him, her anger rising off of her in thick waves. "Kihei was my father's right-hand before his death." She hissed, hiding the disbelief in her voice.

He laughed suddenly, the sound chilling her to the bone. "He's me brother, little girl! And I'll do whatever I want with yer little body, touchin' wherever I want to touch it! Right men?" He started to laugh. The sound made the blood in her veins freeze. Gohei frowned when he received no words of assent from his men and he turned to investigate.

Noticing through the slowly lifting haze of her mind that Gohei was distracted, she threw her body ungraciously to the side and scooped up the sword, cradling it to her body as she dived into a roll.

Gohei's eyes boggled as his attention was brought back to Kaoru.

She stood up just as quickly as she had entered the dive, bringing up the sword in a cutting arc that was aimed for slicing a line from belly to throat. But fate was against her, as it had always been, and Gohei had brought up his own sword in defence.

It stopped the blow before it had even begun.

The shock of metal striking metal travelled up Kaoru's arms, reminding her ruthlessly that she had never used live steel before. The movement jarred her head, making spots dance briefly in her vision from her recent concussion.

Gohei, angry with himself for letting her get her hands on a weapon, used his superior strength to his advantage. He pushed forwards on his sword, watching as Kaoru staggered back at the sudden extra weight of his attack, and he swung quickly, aiming for her head.

Kaoru, noticing his move, quickly dove to the side. Her hair was now an inch shorter than before. She scrambled to stand up, tripping on her now slightly tattered and ripped skirt, but stood up in the end, readying her sword for Gohei's next attack –

Only to see the red-haired man that had leant casually against the entrance to the alley standing in front of her, blocking Gohei's sword with his own. "You have no shame." The man's voice was steely and cold, his eyes sliding to the side and spotting her leaning against the wall slightly behind him. "I hope mi'lady is all right."

Kaoru nodded, unable to say a word. Had one of Gohei's men really just stood up for her,_ against_ Gohei himself? She grinned despite herself. If the situation hadn't been so tense, she would have done a small victory dance. Small, because it was far from over. She just settled for staring instead.

"What do ye think yer doing?!" Gohei screamed, his sword swinging back over his head to come down in a sweeping slice meant for the man's side. "Yer meant to kill her! Her brat brother is as good a dead!" he exclaimed in rage when his attack was easily blocked.

The blood that had started to thaw out in Kaoru's veins, suddenly froze again, her face paling and eyes widening. "What do you mean?" she whispered, her voice heard easily enough in the stand-off produced from Gohei's defunct last attack.

Gohei started to laugh, stepping back and away from the shorter, red-haired swordsman. "This attack was easy to plan, little bitch. I was gonna kill ye here tonight while me brother finished off with the brat." Did that strange man just growl? "After this night, with the both of ye outta the way, we would run that dojo of yers and single-handedly run this town." He cackled.

Kaoru's stomach dropped out from under her and her whole body grew numb.

The sword slipped from her fingers.

It didn't even make a clang on the ground, as it should have, rather it made a small whooshing sound that all metal makes as it cuts the air and went silent.

"Oh god," she breathed, "Yahiko. You monster!" she screamed, wanting nothing more than to rip off Gohei's precious balls from body and force-feed them back to him. "I wish the Watcher finds you and tears you limb from limb." She hissed, blinking away the sudden tears that had sprang to her eyes at the thought of her brother in pain or even dying.

Gohei paled, his beady eyes staring her down. "Do you _want_ the Watcher down on all of us?!" He whispered furtively.

Kaoru pushed herself off of the wall and held her head high and proud. "I would rather die by the Watcher's hands a thousand times over, then by your cowardly, fat fingers!"

The red-haired man before her turned his head slightly, violet eyes ringed with amber. "Those are unwise words, that they are."

"But they're true. I took a risk coming out tonight to help find a cure for my brother. Instead, I have been ambushed, attacked, and have discovered a plot to not only kill me, but murder my brother as well and take our home from us." She glared at Gohei as he was about to say something, "If the Watcher finds me, then all I would ask of him is to let me cure my brother and hurt the man that would hurt him. I would go willingly with him once my, er, _errands_, were done." She finished with clenched fists.

Something odd flickered in the mans eyes – too fast for her to catch – and he seemed to smile only slightly at that. "And if he wasn't so merciful?"

She thought for a while, a small frown coming to her face. "Then I would fight. That is, only if I had to. My brother's life is more important than my own and the Watcher should understand that, or even have a slight concept of mercy and compassion." She nodded her head slightly, the frown leaving her face. She looked somber, as if she had come to a conclusion. "The Watcher would take me or kill me, or whatever it is that he does with his victims, so I don't see why he wouldn't be merciful."

He looked at her strangely, the amber seeping further into the violet of his eyes. His slight smile broadened. "That is a very interesting logic, Lady Kamiya." He tilted his head slightly, turning back to look at Gohei who was growing redder and redder in the face as the seconds ticked by. "A logic that I am inclined to agree with."

Kaoru smiled back, feeling slightly freer than she had ever felt since her father's murder.

"If ye've had enough chit-chat, I'd like to kill ye now!" Gohei exclaimed, charging forwards with his sword aimed like a lance.

As quick as lightning, the man before her had twisted around and scooped her up, jumping right over Gohei's attack. They both watched as the burly man shrieked to a halt, his sword tip lightly pressing the brick of the wall where the two had once stood.

The man who held Kaoru gently placed her back on the ground, and turned his back on her; drawing out a lethal looking sword from some place beneath his cloak. "Lady Kamiya, I think that you should return to your home and look after your brother. I will follow when I'm done here."

She started to protest, but held her tongue. "Be safe. I would like to thank the man that helped me." She would have said 'saved me' but she was far too proud for that. Quickly, she turned around and ran out of the alley, the sounds of her heels clicking against the cobblestones, echoing behind her.

Gohei snarled, attacking with a punch and a clumsy thrust of his sword. "Who are you?!" he screamed in fury when the smaller man simply dodged each blow.

"I am known by many titles, human. But I once had a real name. You shall never find that out, so I'll just clue you in. Guess who I am." The man's eyes started to glow in the sudden darkness of the alley, the moon finding refuge behind yet another cloud. He smirked dangerously when Gohei threw himself back against the wall, his turn to be the cat caught in a corner.

"The… the… the… W-w-watcher!" Gohei whispered, sword slipping from his numb hands as he fell to his knees in a puddle of his own urine.

"Yes." The Watcher hissed, holding his own sword level with Gohei's neck. "Now, it seems that there is a wish I would gladly like to fulfill for a certain young woman. And just so you know, Gohei, this is going to hurt very, _very_ much."

**X**

**X**

**X**

Kaoru ran through the dead streets as if the very hounds of Hell nipped at her heels. The vial of potion slapped against her thigh almost rhythmically, telling her to continue and fight for her brother. It was a miracle it hadn't shattered during Gohei's rough handling of her.

The whitewash walls that surrounded her family's dojo came into view ahead of her, the moon coming out from behind a thick bank of clouds and casting everything in a silver-blue glow. She put on a burst of speed, running full-out towards the wall and jumping at the last second, using the top of the thick structure as a vault. She landed with a small, muffled thud in courtyard bushes, her eyes scanning the area for any kind of motion that would indicate where Kihei might be lurking.

She had trusted that man but she understood _now_ why he had been so adamant about selling the dojo and moving into a small cottage somewhere in the town. She hit herself mentally at her stupidity, but she understood that she had taken any comfort that had been given to her after her father's death.

Kihei had been smart, though. He would drop subtle hints now and then to sell the dojo, reminding her time and time again that a young woman of her age should have someone courting her and ready to take her for their bride. He had even pointed out that Gohei would have made a good husband to her and an influential elder brother to Yahiko. He had dropped the subject quickly though when the both of them had teamed up and proceeded to explain why Hiruma Gohei would never step foot into their dojo as Kaoru's husband.

She stood, her anger boiling and curdling in her veins and she sprinted from the bushes she had landed in; running towards the sleeping quarters of the large dojo. Her heeled boots clacked loudly against the polished floor and she winced. She didn't stop to take them off though; her thoughts were too preoccupied with getting to her brother to stop and unlace the thick boots.

She skidded to a halt in front of the sliding door to her brother's room, panting and catching her breath.

With shaky fingers, Kaoru slid open the door and stepped into the room, her eyes riveted on the unconscious – yet breathing – body of her brother. She took a step forward, instinctively moving away from the knife aimed for her heart. She twisted slightly, but not fast enough to get away, and felt the steel bite into the flesh of her shoulder, scoring muscle and scratching deeply at bone.

The scream that ripped from her throat only intensified in agony as Kihei twisted the knife savagely and jumped away from her. She dropped to her knees, clutching at the handle of the blade and watching in detached fascination as her once pristine white blouse bloomed crimson with her blood. She looked at the wound between panting breaths, noting dumbly through the pain that the knife was buried up to the hilt in her shoulder.

"I knew that stupid brother of mine couldn't do anything right!" the short, balding man sneered, yanking Kaoru back by her hair and glaring at her right in the eyes. "Stupid bitch." He threw her back, watching as she flung out both of her arms to keep from crashing to the ground.

She screamed, moving her left arm meant that the knife cut further into her flesh and bone, reducing the muscles and tendons to mincemeat. She panted, wavering between wakefulness and unconsciousness; blinking back the numerous dancing spots in her vision left her dizzy.

Her left arm collapsed beneath her.

Thinking was useless now due to the fight to stay awake and to take deep breaths to regulate the terrifying amount of pain littering her body. Shock was starting to set in quickly.

Temporarily forgetting about Kihei behind her, she lowered herself to her elbow, redistributing the weight of her body. She panted, eyeing her mangled shoulder.

"That knife was for your brother, you know? But then you came along and screwed up my plan. You have a habit of doing that. You're just like your mother that way, screwing up someone's plans when it was all just getting good." Kihei sneered, running a hand over her cheek, admiring the flesh.

Kaoru was loosing blood at an alarming rate, wincing now every time she struggled to breathe because it expanded her chest and moved the knife ever so slightly.

"Oh," Kihei said wickedly in her ear, straddling her lower back like she were some kind of horse, "You're _so_ much like your mother."

Kaoru's eyes snapped open, the fog of pain receding the slightest bit at his words. The glazed look to her eyes quickly returned when he rocked hard on her back, her shoulder throbbing with new intensity and blotting out her vision in most parts.

"I'm going to take you just like I took your mother, and I'll kill you in the same way, too."

Her eyes snapped open a second time, anger flaring in their blue depths.

Kihei meant his words, she realised dully, nearly letting him hear the whimper that bubbled in her throat when she felt the thick bulge of him pressing into her back as he leant over her. She scrambled for any kind of thought to get out of the situation, reeling in pain when he rocked his body against hers again.

The knife continued to dig into her flesh.

"I'm going to make sure you receive the same treatment as your mother – make you scream and beg to your God to make the pain go away." He cackled, leaning over her once again, a hand reaching under her and fondling her breast. The other started to tear at the waistband of her skirt.

Kaoru struck with all the speed and force of an angry woman.

Surging upwards onto her two feet, and knocking Kihei off, she grabbed onto the handle of the knife – slick and wet with her blood – with her good hand and _pulled_. She screamed, tasting blood in her mouth from where she had reopened the bite-mark in her mouth from Gohei's earlier slap to her face. The knife tore out of her flesh in sickening slow motion for her, the new pain nearly knocking her out cold.

In reality, the event took only a few seconds.

"Bitch!" Kihei screamed out in anger, scrambling to get up and attack her. He stood up, but got no further than that.

Kaoru whirled around, stabbing straight and true into Kihei's bared throat, silencing his cries of anger and pain as death slowly descended upon him. He fell to his knees, clawing at the hand that still held tightly to the handle of the knife that was imbedded in _him_ now. She glared down at him, vindicated, and ignorant of the gurgles that came from his throat as he slowly browned in own blood. "This is for my father!" she screamed, tearing out the knife and slashing at his neck once more.

Tears spilled down Kihei's cheeks as he fell backwards, his blood spraying everywhere from the arteries that she had severed. He pressed his hands to his throat, gurgling and thrashing in pain. The lower half of his body, though, was slightly still, his erection still straining against his pants.

Her pain-glazed eyes glared at him, dizziness washing over her from both the earlier concussion and the added blood-loss.

She nearly fell.

'I can't die yet!' she cried mentally, her breathing coming in short, panting gasps. She shook her head, blinking back unconsciousness, and eyed the knife that was slick with both her blood and Kihei's. "This," she whispered dangerously, knowing full well that he could hear her, "is for my mother." She watched his eyes grow wide and bulge out of his head as she swiftly stabbed downwards, embedding deeply in the muscles of his groin. "This is for my mother." She screamed this time.

His gurgles became more intense, but his body was dying and he could do nothing against her.

Kaoru stabbed him again.

And again.

And again.

And again, until she realised through her own pain-riddle haze that he had stopped breathing.

The knife protruded from one of his eyes, embedded up to the hilt in his head.

She staggered backwards, her tears blinding her from seeing his corpse any longer in the flickering candlelight. On a quick second thought, she reached forwards, nearly falling over in a dead faint when her wounded shoulder moved, and pulled the knife with a sharp yank from Kihei's corpse, only to fling it in some corner of the room.

Kihei was dead. Was Gohei?

Had that red-haired stranger killed him?

She was too tired to think, too hurt to move, but she somehow managed to crawl and slump beside the bed her unconscious brother lay on, watching in fascination as his eyes flickered rapidly beneath his eyelids. For a second she saw the whites of his eyes, knowing that he was waking up slowly but surely.

"Hey, Yahiko, I'm here." She murmured, reaching into her pocket and staring at the cork stopper on the medicine. She grinned stupidly, raising the vial to her mouth and using her teeth to pull it out. She hoped and prayed that the potion would lead to her brother's salvation.

Yahiko's face was hollowed, his forehead glistening with sweat from his fever, but still he woke up. His eyes were unfocused and his breath was short and hot, testament to the raging fever he ran. He grinned crookedly up at her, and Kaoru couldn't help but smile through her tears.

She didn't have much time left.

Kaoru indicated to Yahiko to open his mouth and he did so without retaliation. She poured the purple contents of the medicine into his mouth and rubbed his throat after she had dropped the vial when he started to choke. He smiled up at her and fell unconscious once again.

Kaoru, in her muddled state, noticed the bloody fingerprints she had left on her brother's neck. She felt ashamed, knowing for a fact that her father was rolling around in his grave.

She had killed against the principles of her father's teachings.

There was no going back now.

Fresh tears sprung to her eyes as Kaoru moved away from Yahiko's bed, crawling to the open door and using the frame to help her stand up. She would die and her parents would be ashamed to call her daughter.

Her body had long since gone numb to the pain, but she knew the second she stepped out from the room that Death had come to take her away. She watched as the red-haired man from the alley stepped out of the shadows of the garden, holding out a hand for her as remorse flooding his sad, yet warm violet eyes. She nodded in understanding, and turned her head back into the room, pushing herself away from the door and nearly collapsing as a wave of darkness washed over her. "I love you, Yahiko. Be good for Aunty Tae when comes after I'm gone, all right? Remember, I will always love you. Good bye."

"Love Kaoru back. Be… good. G'bye… 'ru."

Kaoru nearly threw herself back into the room with the little energy she had left, if only to spend her last few minutes of life with her brother. Tears flowed freely from her eyes, but she smiled as she turned back around, sliding the door closed behind her.

Slowly, but surely, she made her way to the man who watched her in awe. She was still a ways away from him, Death, but she was in the garden at least. Each step took more strength than she had to give, and she stumbled once, far too tired to do anything else but leave herself to die then and there.

She closed her eyes, waiting for the impact.

Only instead of landing on the grass, she felt herself being picked up instead.

Kaoru opened her eyes and smiled lazily up at Death. "Hello again." She mumbled, her energy too far spent to speak louder than that.

He smiled down at her as well, walking out of the garden, past the wooden gate that swung open from an unknown source. He started to walk in the direction of the town square. "You did just as you said you would, Lady Kamiya. You hurt your brother's tormentor, cured your brother… and you came with me willingly."

Kaoru blinked unfocused eyes. "You are the Watcher?" she whispered, her body shutting down.

There was no feeling in her legs.

He nodded. "I am truly sorry for deceiving you, that I am, but it was necessary. That man and his men trespassed on my land when it is not theirs, that they did. You did as well, but it was for a worthy cause. But you cannot got unpunished, that you cannot."

She sighed in his arms, her head lolling to rest against his chest. "I'm sorry for trespassing, but I couldn't let my brother die. I will accept my punishment..." She took a deep breath, her heart skipping a literal beat. "You'd better hurry up, you know, I'm dying…" Why was she tired again? She couldn't think.

The Watcher chuckled above her. "I know, but I will not harm you. The Law dictates that because you have seen me _and_ trespassed on my land, I could kill you, or take you to my realm." He nudged her when her eyes stayed closed for longer than he liked. They fluttered open, but a frown still stayed on his forehead. "You mortals never cease to amaze me, that you do."

"Me… no… pet… make… your…life…hell…"she whispered in monosyllables, the only way she could talk at the moment. Black engulfed her vision and her heart faltered once more before she was brought back with a small jolt of what she could only describe as electricity, her limbs re-awakening suddenly and a wave of pain from her shoulder hit her, threatening her with unconsciousness. "What…?" she mumbled, blinking through the fog of pain, an inkling suspicion running through her mind as to who had brought her back to life suddenly. Just as quickly as the pain had hit her, it had disappeared.

The Watcher's face was troubled, almost as if he was carrying a burden heavier than he had anticipated, on his shoulders. "I will do no such thing, that I will not. Neither will I kill you. You will be healed, and from there the possibilities are endless, that they are." He was slowly tying her soul to his, linking them together and anchoring her to him as her body had suddenly shut down. He had stilled her heart; the blood that lay still in her body, frozen in her veins. He had forgotten about her pain from the numerous wounds on her body, and quickly muffled them for her, noticing that she was looking at him oddly.

Earlier that night when he had been on patrol, he had seen the girl run straight past him, eyes focused on both the road ahead of her, three goons chasing after her. At first he had been disinterested, passing off the event as some whore getting a thrill from the chase of an old urban legend and roping her clients into to play. Nevertheless, he had to track them down, just as The Law dictated, and either kill them or enslave them. He didn't really like to bring mortals to his realm unless they deserved to witness all of the pleasures his home had to offer.

When he had seen her dodge a flying dagger, he knew it was something more.

Waiting until the entire group had entered the alley, he had snuck in after the men, cloaking himself in the shadows that he had summoned to protect him. He sat in silence, watching the scene unfold. He knew all the character's names, having patrolled the same town for a little over two centuries, and he sneered at the three men in disgust.

Hiruma Gohei was the ringleader of a small band of brutes that terrorised the town during the day and hid in the darkness of his home during the night. He often wished on many occasions that he was free to enter people's homes and deal justice that so desperately needed to be served.

Hatake Yoshi and Takashi Ichigo had been best friends and neighbours since they had been little. They had fallen into Gohei's crowd when they'd both gotten addicted to opium.

Then there had been Kamiya Kaoru, the only person in the entire town that had stood up to the brute and his not-so-merry band of men. This had apparently cause a stir, because Gohei had been planning on asking her to marry him, but she had disappointed his plans in the middle of the market by rejecting him openly and vocally.

The scene in front of him could only be the result of pent-up frustration from Gohei's end.

He knew that the situation would turn very ugly, very quickly, so he had sent a sword to the girl and smirked in satisfaction when she had noticed it. He had de-cloaked himself in the meantime, ready to help out if the need arose. When Gohei struck Kaoru the first time, he nearly flew at the giant to take him down.

He learnt quickly, though, that a slap was not enough to keep the Kamiya girl down, and he had grinned when she had spat blood in Gohei's face. The second slap, though, made his blood boil in his veins, the shadows at his feet twisting and writhing. He let them attack the Hatake and Takashi, smiling sadistically when the ground seemed to drop out from underneath them; they never had time to scream out as the shadows swallowed them whole.

He had quickly stepped-in when Gohei's next attack would have surely cost her a limb, and he was quickly surprised and delighted at her logic behind his job when he had asked her about it. Saving her was easy in and of itself, simply picking her up and putting her in the right direction to escape.

He trusted her to stay true to her word, letting her run off and gain revenge on her family and help save her brother.

A small, little part of him couldn't wait to introduce her to the advantages and wondrous things that living in his realm pertained.

Disposing of Gohei had been simple, to say the least. Obviously he knew that Kaoru didn't mean to literally rip the man limb from limb, but he couldn't help it really. The man deserved more for all the pain he not only put her and her family through, but also the many people of the town.

He had arrived at her home in time to see her wrench out a knife from Hiruma Kihei's head and throw it as far away from her as she could. Her _ki_ had been flickering wildly, flaring and then dulling in jumbled bursts that he had recognised instantly as death beckoning her. He cursed The Law, wishing that he could enter her house without her permission and save her, not stand out in her garden, waiting for her to come to him.

What had felt like years later, she had reappeared, noticing him and going to him, calling him 'Death' and smiling with tears in her eyes. She hadn't been afraid, and for that, he had been awed. When he'd felt her flickering ki, more pronounced then than it had been before, he knew that he had to save her in any way that he could.

If that meant linking their souls together to do it, well, he'd face the repercussions later for it.

"My name is Kenshin." He said to her with a smile, violet eyes twinkling even beneath the burden of her pain and the strain of twining their souls together. "I promise you on my honour as a Watcher, that you will be happy in the realm of Shadows, that you will." He vowed to her then, summoning the darkest shadows that were in the alley to help transport them to his world.

"Kaoru," she replied, still feeling so tired. Strangely, she felt like she knew that he had known her name all along. She shrugged mentally, closing her eyes. "You better promise I'll be happy, Kenshin. If not… hell… to… pay…" she mumbled.

Kenshin laughed loudly above her, his chest vibrating in her ear. Molten yellow eyes glowed in the darkness of the shadows that wrapped around the two of them and pulled them into another world.

**X **

**X**

**X**

The alley that they had left behind was devoid of life. Not even the vermin came near, having been frightened off by the screams of a grown man.

As the moon came out from behind a cloud once again, the twisted, broken and horribly disfigured body of Hiruma Gohei lay against the back wall, the eyes in his severed head, opened wide and his mouth trapped forever in a frozen scream.

**X **

**X**

**X**

_Come morning and the body would be found, the people of the town would silently rejoice, and quietly dispose of Gohei in an unmarked grave. His brother, Kihei, would be found two days later by a woman called Tae, at the Kamiya dojo. He too would be buried quietly.  
_

_No one really cared about the two men that normally accompanied Gohei around, their families long having died off or moved away. Their bodies had been found in same the alley as well their appearance as if they had gone to sleep and never awoken again.  
_

_The disappearance of Kamiya Kaoru, though, would get the town really talking.  
_

_The two families that lived in the houses on either sides of the alley in which Gohei had been found __would proclaim that there had been a lover's squabble between Kaoru and Gohei. The man had found out that Kamiya Kaoru was actually the Watcher's__lover and he had been brutally killed by the Watcher himself.  
_

_Others would say that Kaoru had been spirited away by the Watcher when Gohei had attacked her. As for Kihei, it had been discovered that the man had been poisoning the younger Kamiya, and that the Watcher had gone after him on Kaoru's instruction.  
_

_The little town loved their rumours, that they did.  
_

_But one rumour would prove to be true.  
_

_If one listened closely at night, one could still hear__Gohei's screams of mercy as the Watcher ripped him limb from limb._

_**X**_

_**X**_

**_X_**

_**THE END – HAPPY HALLOWEEN!**_


End file.
